We at Zavala truly believe that no one ever leaves Zavala behind,
whether it be students, teachers, staff or student teachers. So that
we might continue to remember those who have served at Zavala, the
students of the 1997-1998 ZYS class have created this page. Included
here are pictures and interviews of those who were included in the
1996-1997 web page but have since gone on to other places. This "Hall
of Fame" records their place and marks their accomplishments in our
community.
All of the interviews of the faculty and staff
on this website, as well as the photographs, were obtained, edited,
revised and published by students of Zavala.
As
we kick off this new year, it is my pleasure to welcome back all of
our students and their families to Zavala. Like some of you, I am a
newcomer here, and I am very excited about working with such a
wonderful group of parents, teachers, and students. I am looking
forward to meeting each one of you and visiting with you about ways
we can continue to make Zavala a great place for learning. Our staff
wants to develop a powerful partnership with our students and their
families. Together, we can do tremendous things for the Zavala
community. Our expectations for achievement and learning are very
high here, and we want all of our students to have a great education.
As much as we would like to, our teachers and staff cannot reach our
goals or your goals for students alone. We need the commitment of
parents, students, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents,
and anyone else who can help! Providing support for students in the
home is the first step to their success. We hope that our Zavala
families can begin this new year with a renewed commitment. Parents,
please talk with your child about all of the wonderful things that
he/she is learning at school, ensure that your child works hard to
complete class assignments, and stop by to participate in or see
what's happening any day at our school. At Zavala, visitors are
always welcome, and we would love to see or hear from you. Ms. del
Valle, our Assistant Principal, and I especially want to extend an
invitation to you to visit with us at any time this year.
I am honored to be here and have the opportunity
to work with such an extraordinary community. I know that Zavala has
a long tradition of pride and excellence. How exciting it will be to
continue and expand on that tradition as we enter the year 2000! We
all know that preparing our students for the next century starts with
the exciting work of today. Let's get started!
Ms. del Valle became the assistant principal at
Zavala following the retirement of Mr. Valadez during the 1997-1998
school year. The following is the interview that was done while she
was employed as one of the school counselors at Zavala. She will be
interviewed again as an administrator in the near future.
Ms. Olivia del Valle was the counselor at our
school. She helps people with their problems, because sometimes they
are hurt or afraid.
When Ms. del Valle was 21 years old, she became
a teacher, and stayed a teacher for six years. Then when Ms. del
Valle was 27 years old, she became a counselor. She has been in
education for 20 years.
She became a counselor because there was a
counselor at her high school that she could trust and who helped her
with anything, so when she grew up wanted to help children in any way
possible.
Ms. del Valle likes working at Zavala because
she gets to work with a wonderful faculty and staff. She likes
working here because it's great to work with people that truly love
and care for children.
Ms. del Valle hopes to continue working with
kids as long as she can be of assistance.
Jeanie C.
"Once a Zavala student always a Zavala student,"
Niddia Zamora says. She teaches a Pre-K class here at Zavala
Elementary.
She moved to Zavala when Dr. Perez was principal.
She chose to work here because it was on the East Side and she liked
working with Dr. Perez. "It's fun because the children make me feel
young again, except on some days when they make me feel old." She
feels she is the one that provides all of the teaching, but sometimes
the children teach her a thing or two.
She is most proud of seeing the children she
taught in the ZYS
class at Zavala. She said,"I plan to be at their high school
graduations."
I interviewed Ms. Smith, my first grade teacher.
Now I'm in the sixth grade at Zavala, and I am doing just
great.
Ms. Smith loves to read stories to children. She
started teaching when she was in high school at age 15. It was a
summer job, and she was teaching English.
She came to Zavala because Zavala was one of the
only schools that had a bilingual program at that time. It was
started by Ms. Rodriguez, who was principal at Zavala some years ago.
Ms. Smith was interested in students learning more than one
language.
She says, "Helping people learn how to read is one
of the most important things to do, because literacy is a very
important part of living and working in a democracy. Zavala is a very
friendly place, and the people want to learn."
Eloisa O.
Mr.Aynesworth is a third grade teacher at Zavala
Elementary. He enjoys teaching all sorts of stuff. He enjoys
gardening with an after school class he has.
I asked Mr.Aynesworth what inspired him to be a
teacher and he said that the reason became a teacher was because when
he was small he had a good teacher who influenced him a lot. Also he
thought it would be kind of fun to teach and he is finding out that
it is.
He said that he enjoyed teaching at Zavala. It was
not all as he expected because the teachers were nice and the
students were very respectful to him. Mr. Aynesworth enjoys teaching
at Zavala. "Best place for me to be! " he said.
If he had a wish to be anything else in the world,
he would be an organic farmer.. to sell home grown produce for
money.
Mr.Aynesworth is one of the many great teachers at
Zavala .
Simon O.
Ms.
Johnson has moved from pre-Kinder to third grade in the 1999-2000
school year. The following interview was done when she was still a
pre-K teacher. Stay tuned for an updated interview.
Ms. Johnson was inspired to be a teacher
because she wants to have an impact on children. She loves teaching
and wants to make a positive difference in the children. She is one
of the pre-K teahers at Zavala.
Ms. Johnson thinks it's wonderful working at
Zavala, "Everybody cares, try hard, and works hard." I asked her if
she had would wish to be something else than a teacher, what would it
be, and why.She said she would like to be the owner of a Child
Learning Center.
She would like to get kids at an even younger
age to get them started out right, plus she just likes to be around
kids.
Simon O.
Ms. Barbara Fagan is a librarian assistant
who was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She likes teaching
because she really likes talking with the kids. Ms. Fagan likes being
at Zavala because the kids have lots of enthusiasm and determination.
Ms. Fagan started this job when Mr. Melton (former
principal), a good friend of the family, encouraged her to come to
Zavala to see what it was like. Two years ago, she attended Reading
Rally Day, a day when Zavala celebrates all the reading we do, and it
made such an impression on her that she decided to volunteer her time
helping out in the library.
Ms. Fagan has her heart in teaching because she
really likes working with kids. If there is ever a problem with her
students, she settles it by talking to them separately and then
bringing them together.
She says she will stay and work at Zavala as long
as she can.
Ms.
Garcia was our attendance clerk at Zavala.
She enjoys this job because every day brings
something new, and during the day she gets to talk to nearly all the
teachers and many of the Zavala parents. She finds the teachers to be
friendly and understanding, and her job offers a lot of flexibility.
She takes pride in meeting her deadlines and doing her job
well.
Her goals are to improve her skills in
bookkeeping and go on to work at a larger school as a bookkeeper.
Even though she intends to move on from Zavala one day, she is happy
for now to be a part of the Zavala family.
Heber P.
During my interview with Rachel Pooley, one of the
fifth-grade teachers at Zavala, she had this to say to me about
working at Zavala.
"I wanted to be a teacher because I like having
fun, sharing knowledge with others, and being able to speak English
and Spanish. I started teaching 5th grade this year, but before this
year I was a soccer substitute.
"I like teaching at Zavala Elementary because they
have a great library computers, and Longhorn School Bus Program,
where we go to UT every month, and there are really good teachers
here. I think Zavala is a great place but it is important to try new
things and keep learning."
"So if you ever come to Zavala, look for the
things I have told you about today."
Jason B.
Ms. Benita Martinez was a teacher assistant who
was born in Juventino Rosas, Gaunajato, Mexico.
She likes teaching because of the rewards she
gets. For example, if she helps a child on the TAAS or another test,
and he or she gets a higher score, she knows she has accomplished
something. The rewards she wants are the ones where she knows she
helped someone.
She likes being at Zavala because of the
support she gets from the staff. Ms. Martinez is so proud that she
would like to work at Zavala as a teacher. She wanted to come to
Zavala because she wanted to learn more of what her children were
learning. Her children attend Zavala in the first, second and sixth
grades.
Ms. Martinez is very proud to teach at Zavala
because she is proud of what she does. If there is ever a problem
with her students, she settles it by talking to them if it is a small
problem, but if it gets out of line then she brings the teacher to
talk to them.
Ms. Martinez says that she will stay and work
at Zavala as a teacher assistant, and when she becomes a teacher. She
is taking classes at St. Edward's to become a teacher. She has also
been the PTA president for 1996-1997 at Zavala.
Bruno C.
Minnie Vasquez was a teacher assistant at Zavala
Elementary.
She works one on one with students. "What I
enjoy most about teaching is seeing improvement from students," said
Mrs. Vasquez. She would tell a student teacher to have patience with
students because some students are slow learners. "I think being a
teacher assistant is so important because there are students that
need help in a one-on-one basis."
Mrs. Vasquez lays down the rules in more than
one way. When her students misbehave, she reviews with them what they
did wrong and then asks them what they could have done to prevent it.
If they continue misbehaving, she will send him/her to time out,
where they can think about what they have done wrong.
"When I review with students, I review the
paragraph and add on as students are getting better at understanding
the objective," said Mrs. Vasquez. "I am most proud of being at
Zavala for three years and being able to communicate more and better
with the teachers and the community."
In the 1997-1998 school year, Ms. Vasquez will
be working full time to support he former Zavala Young Scientist
students who have gone on to middle and high school. She will follow
their progress, meeting with them and their parents and teachers if
and when it becomes necessary, so that they will continue to be
successful in school. She is very excited about this useful and
exciting job.
Laura V.
Mr. John Valadez was the assistant principal at
Zavala Elementary for nearly two years. During that time he worked
tirelessly to help the success of both faculty and students at
Zavala. We wish him well.
The following text is from an interview that was
done in 1997:
He was also an assistant principle in 1983 in
Houston,TX. After that, he started to be a teacher, teaching in a 5th
grade bilingual class. He came from Houston in 1991, and started
teaching at Wooldridge Elementary School.
Two years later he decided to get a degree in
administration. On Nov.,1996 he came to Zavala to work as an
assistant principal because he enjoys helping teachers teach
children.
His way of looking at Zavala is that it has the
best attendance in the school district, and that overall, in a period
of 5 years, the TAAS scores have improved a tremendous amount. Also
Zavala has the best faculty of his whole teaching career, and he
feels it's one of the best schools in Austin ISD.
He said that, since he's been here, he's
pleased with the way that the cafeteria is working. The discipline
there is improving. Mr. Valadez has gotten to know teachers and
students better so that he can work better with students
needs.
Mr. Valadez said he's proud of Zavala because
it is now a Texas Blue Ribbon school and might even become a National
Blue Ribbon school soon.
Adriane W
The person I interviewed is a woman named Sheryl
Sherman. She is a social worker here at Zavala Elementary. She is
going to tell you a little bit about herself and about being a social
worker.
Ms. Sherman loves kids and has two beautiful
children of her own. Since she liked working with kids and adults,
she thought that being a social worker would be a good profession and
she wanted to work with people who have AIDS. She found that
rewarding but soon she was ready for a change. She had experience in
other things such as photography but she decided to get trained as a
social worker. She likes the kids at Zavala because they are young
and smart, and she believes they are our hope for the future.
Now that you have heard what she has to say and
that Ms. Sherman and I hope that you have learned something about
being a social worker,and maybe someday you might become a social
worker as good as Ms. Sherman.
Jeanie C
Loretta Caro served Zavala for many years as both
assistant principal and principal. She set and maintained high
standards for herself, the faculty , and the students. She has had a
hand in any success that Zavala has had over the past few years and
we miss her very much.
When I interviewed Ms. Puryear, I asked her what
she likes about her job. She answered, "I like to see children
discover how powerful their brains are." I also asked her what she
liked about Zavala and she replied "the culture, meaning the
children, parents, teachers, and the belief system, because that's
what the culture is to me."
Ms. Puryear told me she was born in Austin, and
has lived here all her life. I asked her what she likes to do in her
spare time. She replied, "I enjoy reading history, studying different
cultures around the world, and having lots of adventures." She also
likes to talk to her children, read stories, do art projects, and
draw with her children at school.
At home she likes to read, go to the movies, cook,
and take long walks. She gets some of her adventures from books and
taking these walks. She likes to listen to her daughter, Mariel, play
her saxophone since her son has grown up and is gone a lot.
"How did you become a teacher?" I asked. She
responded, "I went to school for six years after high school and
worked very hard." Ms.Puryear said she became a teacher because she
wanted to make a positive difference in the world. If she had not
made that choice, she would not be here today.
Crystal R.
Mrs. Rodela is a cook at Zavala Elementary and has
been for four years. She likes working at Zavala because she gets
along with her co-workers and because she likes to try new recipes.
She says she will work as long as she can because
she enjoys being around children and she gets along fine with the
children. If a child came to the cafeteria all sad, she would try her
best to make them happy.
She also says that she is proud her work because
she has learned a lot of new different things in her four years here
at Zavala.
Audrey R.
Mr. Butler is a first grade teacher at Zavala
Elementary School who likes teaching and can't imagine working at a
job that doesn't help people. He began teaching 4 years ago in the
1993-94 school year because he had a degree in journalism and was
working as a substitute. He became a substitute teacher while he was
looking for a job in journalism.
He decided he liked teaching better than
journalism so he enrolled in a teaching certification program.
Someday he wants to work somewhere else, only because there are many
other things he would like to do.
He likes teaching at Zavala because of how the
faculty work together to give the kids lots of choices.
Jason B
Ms. Rosalva Martinez is a first grade teacher at
Zavala Elementary. She thinks she is the luckiest person in the world
because she enjoys teaching her students things that they will need
in the future to become successful in the real world.
Her proudest moment as a teacher is when her
students stop asking her to read them their books because they are
able to do it for themselves.
She chose to work at Zavala because she came as a
substitute here and loved how well-behaved the students were and how
helpful the teachers are.
The one thing that Ms.Martinez wants to change for
the whole school is to have to have special areas for all grades from
pre-Kindergarten to 6th grade. She thinks that all the students need
to learn about Physical Education, Art, and Music as well as the
other things that they teach in an elementary school.
Ms. Martinez said that she would turn down a job
offered by another school to stay here, because she is not going to
find the kind of teachers Zavala has at any another school. The
teachers really care about the students and other schools don't show
that.
Ms. Martinez likes teaching because she can make
learning fun for students that makes them want to learn. She likes
teaching at Zavala because if she needs any help or materials etc.,
all she has to do is ask and somebody will help her.
The first day at Zavala she felt very welcomed.
Everyone kept saying "Hello" and introducing themselves to her. Ms.
Martinez is very happy that she decided to come to Zavala.
Roberto D.
Mr. Domingo Cervantes, Head
Custodian
I interviewed Domingo Cervantes, the supervising
janitor at Zavala Elementary, who became a janitor only 13 years ago
and has now worked himself up to be a supervisor. He likes his job
because it's a great job and he gets compliments from kids and he
also gets to work around teachers and kids.
Being supervisor is a hard challenge because you
have to give people the right payroll and order people around all the
time. His goal for life is to become coordinator for the A.I.S.D. Mr.
Cervantes says his work is good because at the end of the day he
looks at the clean building and he can be proud that he did that.
Jason B.
Ms. Judy Enis helps children with reading at
Zavala as a special education teacher. She likes to try new teaching
strategies. She is proud of the students' participation in Zavala's
reading programs, but most of all, she enjoys watching children learn
to read who haven't been able to read before.
The thing that she likes the most about
Zavala is the cooperation among the community, staff, and students at
Zavala. Ms. Enis also likes that the people at Zavala try new things
to make our school and students more successful.
Ms. Enis enjoys working with the students
and the community. You could say that she enjoys the collaborative
spirit. She does not want to leave Zavala, and loves Zavala and
everybody connected with it!
Matthew K.
To teach is to learn and to learn is to teach.
Though Alice Hernandez is not a certified teacher, as a teacher
assistant she still must explain and teach lessons. "I like my job
very much because I enjoy working with children to help them
succeed."
Mrs. Hernandez gives more than help to the
children that she works with. In addition to the patience she has
with them, she gives them much needed attention and love.
When she works with them she also disciplines them
since she knows that discipline is an important part of school. "The
first time I call them, I'll let the student know what he/she did
wrong. If they continue they'll sit by me for about 5-10 minutes. The
3rd time is a minus. If they keep acting up I will send the student
back to class or call Mr. Valadez, (the assistant principal) to come
and pick him/her up."
She helps the students by sitting beside them and
having them follow along. In math her students use cubes, pennies or
any other things that the students can count with that will help them
to learn what the class is learning.
"I have been at Zavala for four years," says
Alice. " My biggest achievement is being here at Zavala for four
years, having perfect attendance, and watching my children become
successful here in school"
She has been P.T.A. president and vice president
for two years each. She also enjoys being a Brownie Girlscout leader
for an afterschool class.
Laura V.
At Zavala Elementary, the HOSTS Program is ably
managed by Brian Beaverstock. Brian has been the co-ordinator for two
years and is a great part of the success that our program has had on
the reading ability and self-esteem of our students.
Born
in Sinton, Texas, July 30, 1956, Ms. Garcia grew up in nearby
Gregory, where she attended elementary school. After attending
Portland Junior High, Ms. Garcia graduated from Gregory-Portland
High. She went to Texas Womens University and graduated in 1978. She
later acquired her Master's Degree from East Texas State University.
She came to Austin in July, 1984.
She has many hobbies which she enjoys doing at
home, such as reading and sewing, which she likes best. She also
likes all of Zavala and its community. She likes teaching children
and hopes that someday she can see them graduate from high school and
college. Ms. Garcia has taught kindergarten, first grade, second
grade and fifth grade in Corpus Christi, Gregory-Portland, Dallas and
now in Austin. Jose C.
Emma
Roegiers first came to Austin when she was twenty-two years old. She
came to us for her first year of teaching. She was very happy when
our principal called her and told her she had the job. She was born
in Toronto, Canada but she was raised in Oklahoma. She graduated from
Oklahoma University.
She picked her job because she likes to work with
kids who have special needs. A lot of her time has been spent working
with kids. She volunteered in a tutoring program five years ago and
ended up working with kids who had trouble learning. She loves her
job here and loves working with the other teachers. She loves to work
with kids from all different grades and ages and she says "THERE
HASN'T BEEN A BORING DAY YET!"
She has two brothers and a older sister. Her
sister's name is Natasha and she is twenty-six years old. She is
married and studying for a PhD. Her older brother's name is
Sebastian. He's married and works for Dell in Austin. Her little
brother, Joshua, is a sophomore in high school. She really likes that
they are all giving and are always there when she needs
them.
Her parents grew up in Belgium and her whole
family speaks French. She goes to Europe often to visit her mother
and father. She moved here because her friend of sixteen years lived
in Austin and went to U.T. She liked her visit so much that she
decided to stay. She wants to teach until she is married and has her
own children. She says she will come back to teaching when her
children are grown up and in high school. She hopes that she will
still be at Zavala for several more years.
Carmen C.
I interviewed Dr. Siebenaler, our music teacher at
Zavala, and this is what he told me:
"I like all the students and teachers at Zavala
because they are nice to work with." He continues, "I want kids to
learn how to sing because that's something we can enjoy for the rest
of our lives. Music can express your feelings, whatever those
feelings are."
"I enjoy my job as music teacher because I get to
choose songs that I like and the students enjoy. I am most proud when
students do a great job at any kind of program because it shows that
they have worked very hard. Yet I always want them to do
better!"
Ancelmo L.
Ms. Reed is the P.E. teacher at Zavala Elementary,
where she has been teaching P.E. for two years. "I have a fun job!",
she said ,when I asked her what she most liked about Zavala. "I like
the size of the school. With small classes it is easier to know all
of the students. I teach almost every student in the school, that
gives me a great opportunity to interact with a lot of the students.
Another thing I like about this school is the staff. I feel very
lucky to be a part of such a supportive and diverse group of
professionals" .
When I asked her if she would ever consider
becoming a classroom teacher, she told me, "I like teaching P.E.
because I get to see a different side of the students. The atmosphere
in the gym is one that promotes having fun. The students look forward
to coming and that makes me feel fantastic!"
One of the other things I asked her was what
influenced her to become a teacher. She said, "When I attended SWTSU,
I began teaching softball clinics to youth in the area. Teaching felt
like a natural and very fulfilling role for me."
When I asked her if would she ever get another
job, she said, "I couldn't ask for a better job. I love what I do,
and look forward to seeing the kids. They really motivate
me."
I asked her, "If you could change something from
this school what would it be?" She said, "I wish that our students
could have P.E more often. Seeing them only once or twice a week is
not enough. I also feel that our students and faculty would benefit
from a year-round schedule."
I think Ms. Reed is a good P.E. teacher who cares
about her students. She always wants the best for her students and
for the whole school.
Ruby S.
"My Decisions Create My Future" is the motto of
Mr. McDowell, the sixth-grade teacher at Zavala Elementary. Mr.
McDowell teaches a very important group of students, the Zavala Young
Scientists (ZYS).
When Mr. McDowell came here to interview for the
job he saw how nice the kids were and when he got the job he was very
happy. He said that he would change only one thing about Zavala and
that is to make it a year- round school so he could be here a lot
more days teaching kids the things they need to know.
He is now well known all over the school, but his
first day at Zavala nine years ago he wasn't so well known. My
teacher was used to working where he knew all the people, but he
didn't know anybody at Zavala. In a few weeks, everything changed.
The future ZYS teacher had a lot of friends and he was very glad he
had gotten the job.
Mr. McDowell is very proud of all of his students,
and especially those that go to Kealing Junior High School. His
proudest moment was when two of his former students came to Zavala to
talk to the current students and parents about their struggles to be
successful in middle school. They told us how they never gave up and
that we should never give up either.
Mr. McDowell really likes teaching because he
likes working with kids and being creative and also learning what the
kids are learning. My teacher likes teaching at Zavala because he
likes working in a mostly Hispanic community. Mr. McDowell really
appreciates working here because some students' parents work at
Zavala and he feels the school is part of the community. He feels
that what he does every day in the classroom changes the lives of his
students for the better.
My teacher is making his students ready for the
real world. He teaches us more things every day; he even teaches us
extra things. Mr. McDowell sounds like a very intriguing teacher and
he really is!
Robert D
Mr. Thompson is a third grade teacher here at
Zavala. He came to Zavala because he agreed with the philosophy of
this school and appreciated the sense of the community that we
have.
He feels very productive and inspired working with
the students and faculty at Zavala. "I would only consider going to
another school if I could help foster the type of environment we have
here. When students have trouble in reading I help them by working on
decoding and comprehension strategies as well as assuring that they
enjoy reading."
" The thing that I enjoy the most about teaching
at Zavala is the enthusiasm and integrity that both students and
faculty have, because it encourages me to do the best I can." he
said.
"There are two achievements that I am proud of
accomplishing this year, the first being the growth in reading skills
by my students over the last nine months, and the second would be Mr.
Lubman and I starting the after school video production class."
Matthew K.